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Why Panaflo L1As over Vantec Stealths??

S

SNoWyV82

Member
I was set on getting 80mm Panaflo L1As until I stumbled on Vantec. Their stealth model 80mm fan pushes 27 CFM at 21 dBA. Panaflows push 24 CFM at 21 dBA. These fans are the same loudness, however the Vantec pushes more CFM! Why is the Panaflow recommended so much more?? Is it because of price?? I found the Vantec for 7.99 and the Panaflo for 3.99 so that might be why. I think I will put a Vantec stealth on my HSF and do Panaflos for my case fans to get the best price/performance. Any reason not to?
 
I've yet to try a Panaflo myself but I did recently swap out two Sunon case fans and replace them with two Vantec stealth fans. What a difference! My PC is noticeably quieter with a negligible rise in case temps. (Which is probably due more to the much warmer weather we have now than it is to the new fans.)
 
The Vantec Stealth only recently came onto the market, so more people are familiar with the Panaflo L1A. The Stealth is a Nidec fan, and Nidec has a good reputation AFAIK, so it should be a good choice too. If it really does put out 27cfm at that noise level, it's probably the best ratio of output to noise on the market.
 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
The Vantec Stealth only recently came onto the market, so more people are familiar with the Panaflo L1A. The Stealth is a Nidec fan, and Nidec has a good reputation AFAIK, so it should be a good choice too. If it really does put out 27cfm at that noise level, it's probably the best ratio of output to noise on the market.
Click to expand...

The Zalman ZM-F1 (if it performs to spec) puts out 28CFM@20dB(A) with the resistor in place for about $5.50 at svcompucycle.
 
Damn that Zalman looks really good. Anyone have any experiences with it? Sometimes these manufacturers twist their numbers a little bit...
 
I used to use PC Power & Cooling Silencer fans exclusively (27CFM - 20dba) before SVC dropped their prices on the L1A's. I'm sure the Vantec's (like the the PCP&C) are great, but the L1A's are good enough and the price can't be beat.
 
SNoWyV82, the Vantec stealths are not as quiet as the Panaflos though they are both "rated" for 21dBA. I've tried both and the Stealth is significantly louder -- though it does push more air. I have also found that the stealths that I tested were not as well balanaced as the Panaflos, and caused more noise from vibration than did the Panaflos. Just my 2 cents.
 
Hey DrVos thanks a lot! Yeah I was hoping someone who had tested both would be able to give me that information. I am going to stay away from the Vantec Stealths and either do all Panaflos and One Papst which pushes 26.5 CFM at 19 dBA as an HSF.
 
Just another thought if your case is applicable. Some cases (including Antec1040 and its equivalence) can use 92mm fans. For Antec1040, just take off those 80mm fan cages (not applicable on front 3.5" drive fan though. Edit: 92mm fans fit, I tried it). As for HSF, I can use a 92mm fan on my Alpha8045, don't even have to align it diagonally. Double-sided tapes make quite firm attachment for me.

Here are some of 92mm fans that I know for cheap:

Zalman 92mm $6@svc -- <dual speed> cfm:38(53) dba:20(36)
FAN1061 92mm $1@bgm.bgmicro.com -- cfm:47.2 dba:27 (bare wired)
FAN1060 92mm $1@bgm.bgmicro.com -- cfm:37.5 dba:25 (bare wired)

- mbuf
 
I have a Coolermaster ATC600 which came with 3 60mm Sunons that seemed pretty quiet. I replaced all 3 of them (and cut another 60mm hole on the backplane for a fourth fan) with Vantec Stealth fans and my system is cooler by 3-5C and it's quieter (it's a desktop system, so I notice it). FWIW I also replaced my 300W Enermax dual fan power supply (not the super quiet one) with the Antec TruPower 330. For the $10 or so I paid per fan, I think they were worth it, the RPM monitoring is nice and the fans come with mounting screws and a 3-4 pin adapter.

Pete
 
Hmmm..
I'm tempted to try the ZM-F2 Zalman 92mm, but I dunno if I trust the figures. Anyone know how effective and quiet it is at the low speed setting?

If only Panasonic made 92mm panaflos..but noooo :\
I may end up saving myself some money anyway and getting the case that fits 2-3 80mm instead of the one with 2 80mm and 2 92mm 😉

dK9
 
Panasonic does offer 92mm Panaflos if you're interested... they're just a little harder to find. 2Cooltek has the "L1A" low-noise/low-rpm version here and Plycon has a nice range of 92mm fans including Panaflo L1A and a super buy on a Sanyo Denki here.
 
The Papst fans are definetly of very high quality and are quieter than the Panaflos-- but not by a whole lot. For those that want the absolute quietest solution possible, go and spend the extra money on the Papst fans. For those just getting started on quieting down their computers panaflos are a good way to start since they are much quieter than most other fans on the market and are pretty cheap.
 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
Panasonic does offer 92mm Panaflos if you're interested... they're just a little harder to find
Click to expand...

Ahh.. Thanks, mech!
But..now that I see the spec sheet, I think I'm pretty much decided that 21 dBA (80mm) is a far cry nicer than 27 dBA (92mm), particularly when my cpu has been surviving on 1 less-than-quality case fan so far 😉

Thanks again
dK9

 
There is nothing special about the Vantec brand fans. They are just typical ball bearing fans set to run slower. For the quietest fan you need a good design (Papst, Panaflo, etc sleeve models) and the largest you can fit, then regulate the voltage accordingly. Having RPM sensing models is best because it gives you the option of controlling the speed/noise through software -automatically based on temps if you like.
 
Well I've messed around with my case fans... replaced my Panaflos with Stealths. Based on my observations, I didn't notice any difference in sound. Also, I found the Stealths to be better balanced than the Panaflos.

As someone else mentioned, Panaflo is an established manuf. and produces high quality fans. Their fans last a very long time and perform well. Also, they have a pretty comprehensive lineup that meets most people's needs.

If you do want the quietest, buy Papst. The Papst model that is comparable to the Stealth (NGML) costs about $20 per fan in the US... vs $8 for the Stealth. Is it really worth it other than having bragging rights... IMO no. Others might disagree.

 
Yeah I don't think that doing Papsts as case fans as well as HSFs is a viable option for most people. I think I might stick to Panaflos because of the conflicting reports about Vantec Stealths. How are the fans in the Lian Lis? My new case will be arriving soon, and if those fans aren't loud then I won't even need new fans.
 
Case fans that come with the LianLi (60 series... not sure which one you're getting) are 31CFM 28DBA Adda fans. Quite good fans in their own right. If you stick the front fans on medium via the bus (which yielded the best temps for my rig), can't really hear them.

As to conflicting reports... you've only heard from a couple people. I wouldn't classify that as conflicting evidence. Every review that I read about the fans was positive. Do a search on google if you haven't already.

Check a couple other forums. I haven't found any bad feedback from Stealth owners.
 
Yeah I'm getting the PC6083A. So did your temps go down after replacing your Panaflos with Vantec Stealths? And there was no audible difference?

edit: Overclockedcafe had some good things to say about the Vantec Stealths. However, members of this forum didn't.

 
I just got my 92mm Vantec Stealth in today. The fan is very quiet. I think they over rated the CFM though. My 80mm Panaflo L1A feels like it's pushing more air.
 
Is there any audible difference between the Vantec Stealth and the Panaflo L1A? If not then I will go with the L1As which are cheaper and push more CFMs (I think...).
 
L1A's push less CFM... 24CFM/21DBA. I haven't noticed any kind of tremendous difference in noise levels. I think you'll always find something wrong if you look or listen hard enough.

I'm in Arizona right now where its 110F and can't reliably tell you about temps.

Kaervak, a 92MM fan doesn't focus the air as well as an 80MM fan. Surface area is spread out further. Same thing applies to 80MM vs 60MM. If things worked the way you think, then we'd all have 120MM fans on our heatsinks.

SNoWyV82, you really need to break out. There are a ton of forums other than Anand. You need to hit them all and get enough objective information to make a decision. Hardforums, AMDMB, viahhardware, case modding forums etc... Forums tend to brew some serious groupthink on certain topics which is why it's important to look elsewhere. A lot of folks are like parrots and just repeat what they've heard and stand by it, despite the fact that they don't have any experience with the hardware.

If you only read one review, you're cutting yourself short. Google is a great tool. Use it. Put Vantec Stealth 80MM fan review and read the 10 or so reviews that pop up if you haven't already. Also manufacturers are getting a bit more savvy and putting links to reviews on their product pages. Do the same for the other fans as well.

By the way, I put a comment on the thread you linked to... the one thing that guy didn't take into account is break in. Dual ball bearing fans are going to take more time to break in than sleeve bearing fans (Panaflo, Papst). It also sounded like he had his PPC&C fan for a while which is a ball bearing fan and is most likely broken in. The fans were are talking about aren't really that loud any which way you cut it and I honestly doubt most people can hear a significant difference in the fans once they're broken in.

Also I'm sure Vantec measured a broken in fan and there is no subterfuge going on.

Anyway I'm not pushing any specific fan, buy the one you feel good about.
 
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